Sprinter shutdown jolts North County

At the Sprinter maintenance facility in Escondido, Bob Young General Manager Operations of Maintenance for Bombardier shows an example of the brake rotor that are prematurely wearing out by as much as 12 months. The brake rotor which has been unbolted from the wheel assembly is the object in the center of the axle.
— Nelvin C. Cepeda

At the Sprinter maintenance facility in Escondido, Bob Young General Manager Operations of Maintenance for Bombardier shows an example of the brake rotor that are prematurely wearing out by as much as 12 months. The brake rotor which has been unbolted from the wheel assembly is the object in the center of the axle.
— Nelvin C. Cepeda

NORTH COUNTY  North County transit officials plan to shut down the Sprinter light rail Saturday — and for up to four months — to repair a specialized brake system that’s showing accelerated wear on all 12 of the system’s trains.

They said the decision resulted from “an abundance of caution.” The setback, which the region’s transit chief described as “embarrassing” and “difficult,” is expected to inconvenience thousands who rely on the Sprinter along its 22-mile corridor from Oceanside to Escondido.

It could also shake confidence in the North County Transit District’s $477 million Sprinter line, which has seen steady ridership gains in recent years after attracting far fewer riders than initially projected. Critics skewered the Sprinter when it opened five years ago today — millions of dollars over budget and far behind schedule.

Matt Tucker, the transit agency’s executive director, pledged during a Friday news conference in Escondido that the reopening of the Sprinter “will be based on safety, not based on schedules.”

He also said some brake rotors on the Sprinter are “out of compliance” with the manufacturer’s standards. Those benchmarks are built into the transit district’s own safety rules.

Saturday and Sunday, the agency intends to use express buses to ferry passengers during the closure. The buses will run every 30 minutes and make stops at the Vista Transit Center, Palomar College and California State University San Marcos.

Bus replacement plans beyond this weekend are still in the works, the agency said. It encouraged the public to check its website — gonctd.com — for updates.

Leaders of the transit district didn’t specify a cause for the accelerated brake wear and said they didn’t know how much the repairs, bus substitutions and other aspects of the shutdown would cost. They also wouldn’t say whether private contractors or taxpayers would foot the bill.

“There’s going to be a time for all that. No one has an idea at this point,” Tucker said.

In a cruel twist, the shutdown — set for after midnight Friday — falls exactly on the fifth anniversary of the Sprinter’s opening, just as the network was emerging as “the backbone” of North County’s east-west transit network, as supporters have called it.

Saturday's planned Sprinter celebration in San Marcos — which would have featured speeches, awards and model train games — was canceled Friday.

Tucker said he learned of the brake problem “very suddenly last week.” It triggered days of arrangements for the replacement buses, according to a news release from the transit agency.

When U-T San Diego asked Tucker about the brake issue Thursday night, he said a preliminary investigation revealed that a subcontractor knew about the issue with the brakes, as did the district’s rail mechanical engineer. The information somehow didn’t make it to higher-ups at the agency, Tucker said, and the engineer who oversees maintenance contracts has resigned.

On Friday, he said the trains’ premature rotor wear on the central disc braking system fell below the maker’s standards, leading to his agency’s voluntary stop of service.

But the California Public Utilities Commission, which oversees rail safety in California, advised the transit district on Thursday to “Please replace all brake rotors that do not meet the manufacturer’s specifications immediately.”

Tucker said that normally, the district would have changed out the rotors in 12 more months — at the same time it would replace the trains’ wheels.

Still unclear is how long the Sprinter might be down, although the agency estimated a period of “60 to 120 days.”

An extended closure is expected because the Sprinter is one of only a handful of diesel multiple-unit trains, a subset of light-rail trains, in the United States. It was made by Siemens in Germany.

Replacement brake rotors aren’t “sitting on the shelf” anywhere nearby, one transit official said. They may have to be custom-ordered from Europe.

Sprinter trains continued to run Friday morning, but at reduced speeds due to the brake concerns, said Frances Schnall, a spokeswoman for the transit district.

While waiting for trains in Escondido and San Marcos, several riders said a shutdown would not only inconvenience their daily routines, but also cause them to spend more money to reach their destinations. Some estimated it would take 30 to 60 minutes longer for each leg of their commute if they had to use other transportation.

A few said they trusted the transit district to restore safe service.

“It’s a little worrying, but I’ll keep riding them (ultimately),” Alberto Pineda, 18, a computer engineering student, said as he walked to class at Palomar College.

San Marcos Councilwoman Rebecca Jones, who sits on the transit board, said she believed riders would understand that “sometimes life throws you a curveball.” That’s as long as the agency ensures their safety and finds them speedy alternate transit, she added.

“The timing is disheartening, of course,” Jones said.

With gas prices still high, Oceanside Mayor Jim Wood said the loss of the Sprinter could hurt many people already on a tight budget.

Wood said brake problems on the Sprinter never came up while he served on the transit board during the past several years. Wood was forced off the board this month by a majority of the Oceanside City Council over differing transportation priorities.

Reached Friday about the planned Sprinter shutdown, a San Diego-based public relations expert said there’s much at stake for the transit agency in the next few months.

Bey-Ling Sha, associate professor of public relations at San Diego State University, said the transit district could use this adversity to better connect with the public, perhaps by holding town forums on how best to run alternate transit while the trains are off-line.

“Depending on how they handle this,” Sha said, “it could be a trust-building exercise or a trust-breaking one.”